Critter Track ID

[draketrutta]

I took the gun for a walk yesterday morning. Came across a water puddle and I was a bit stumped by the tracks I found.

There were deer tracks also.
The area surrounding the water puddle was dry enough that the tracks pictured are all there were in the immediate area..

I'm leaning toward fox - maybe bobcat???
The roundness of the print has me stumped.

what say you?

[Misterjake23]

My guess is Cat tracks.  I'm basing that on the shape of the pad of the foot.  To the pad appears to be more wide than long.  A canine track will be more triangular .  I didn't see any toe nails on the tracks either.  A canine will leave toe nails where a feline walks with its toe nails retracted.  I think if it was a fox it would appear more longer and less circular.   

[Dale]

big house cat...

[QUATTRO]

big house cat...

+1

[draketrutta]

I doubt that - this picture was taken 3 miles from the nearest house.

If it was a big house cat - it sure likes to roam in coyote country.

Gives the "cat has 9 lives" a whole new meaning if it was someone's Fluffy.

I am leaning toward bobcat - like the other poster stated they are circular tracks and no toenail marks in the prints.

Thanks for your input.

p.s. - if it is an uncollared  Fluffy - and I encounter it - should I consider it a FERAL cat?   

[QUATTRO]

I doubt that - this picture was taken 3 miles from the nearest house.

If it was a big house cat - it sure likes to roam in coyote country.

Gives the "cat has 9 lives" a whole new meaning if it was someone's Fluffy.

I am leaning toward bobcat - like the other poster stated they are circular tracks and no toenail marks in the prints.

Thanks for your input.


p.s. - if it is an uncollared  Fluffy - and I encounter it - should I consider it a FERAL cat?

A feral cat is far from someones fluffy...being that far from a house is not out of the realm of possibility either if you ask me. I have seen some pretty formidable feral cats a good ways out..and they were as much a wild animal as an undomesticated critter if you ask me..especially when the come in from several hundred yards out, in the middle of the night, on a B-line responding to rabbit distress on an Ecaller and get a few feet from blowing up your mojo critter..and lets just say that one must have been on its ninth life.. Track definitely looks feline but at a quick glance it looked too small to be a bobcat.. but then again its hard to scale it I guess and I'm far from an expert..
perhaps if you really wanted to know you could measure a tread feature on you boot and use that as a size reference.. the bobcat track would be larger than a typical domestic/feral cat in most cases...atleast thats my understanding